Building Unique Old Beadboard Cabinet Doors for Cottage Kitchen Island

Building unique old beadboard cabinet doors for our cottage kitchen island had us face many design decisions that were not easy.

old reclaimed beadboard cabinet doors in little cottage

In the previous blog, we shared how we added antique beadboard to the kitchen island in our little pine cottage. In this blog, we are continuing the kitchen project by building unique old beadboard cabinet doors for the kitchen island.

man installing old reclaimed beadboard in little cottage

The cabinet doors were handmade with the reclaimed beadboard like most things in our renovations. I don’t think my hubby set out to be a carpenter and he certainly isn’t schooled as one either. Yet~ he has been making a lot of items in our small dwelling himself. I’ve been thoroughly impressed!

BUILDING BEADBOARD CABINET DOORS

We built several cabinet doors underneath the kitchen countertop, which is also a part of the island or peninsula. The cabinet doors would blend in with the rest of the reclaimed beadboard around the island since it was also built with the same old beadboard.

man installing old reclaimed beadboard cabinet doors in little cottage

There were certain elements about the cabinet doors though that would make it unique and stand out. Well~ first of all, they are doors and can be opened~ duh!~ ;). And they also included time period elements that brought the beautiful salvaged gems to life.

Like the antique brass hinges and diy patina slotted flat head screws. We still need to add those screws to the build. Not to mention the vintage bow tie turn latches to keep the cabinet doors closed.

My hubby Nate built the cabinet doors with a lot of love and care. And as always, with much detail. It is common for him to redo things and undo them just to get the build done right or the best he can. There was a lot of tweaking and figuring out things as he went. In the end, they turned out so nice.

Watch our video to see more of the process and the steps we took to make sure most of the details were covered. This is not a step by step tutorial and we are not experts when it comes to building cabinets. Even ones made from reclaimed beadboard.

The information we are providing is to help inspire you and perhaps give you ideas of your own diy projects. Maybe you are using reclaimed or salvaged materials as well and can glean from some of what we’ve done.

It’s our way of also giving back as the numerous blogs and videos we’ve watched ourselves has helped us with these type of builds. We are grateful for those who put out content about what they are doing for their own diy projects. May this be a space for us all to be inspired by one another.

OLD COTTAGE BUILD

Not perfect as nothing in our little cottage really is since most things are old and salvaged. That’s the beauty of our renovations. What we have built is a bit rugged, not so modern, with reflections of the past and time period. We are proud of that and it has been our goal throughout the entire process.

I know there is a lot of popularity around modern renovations and builds. And there is a place for that like our beloved HVAC unit, stove, and refrigeration. Yet, there is something timeless about the old and preservation that you just can’t get from those modern items.

Whether it’s furniture, light fixtures, doors, floors, and so much more. It’s like we’ve been building a new old house and we love it. Most everything in our home is brand new, but not necessarily with new items. And that just enhances the character of our little cottage. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now it may have been easier to just use mostly brand new materials. Less to clean up and restore. And easier to find and more inexpensive. But, the sacrifice in all these areas has been worth it.

PAINTING THE OLD BEADBOARD

Alright so~ in the last blog and video we talked about how we really liked the character and colors of our old reclaimed beadboard and thought about leaving it as is and not painting over it.

However, we did actually end up priming it and plan on painting it later. Do we regret it? Maybe a little. But here’s why we painted it. One reason is that we wanted the beadboard to look original and part of the time period versus looking reclaimed and placed in a modern home.

man working on old reclaimed beadboard in little cottage

And since we plan on storing food stuffs in there, adding a good coat of primer ensures that it encapsulates any possibility of lead paint.

man priming old reclaimed beadboard in little cottage

Plus, we weren’t sure at the time how we’d end up designing our open concept kitchen and living room area and how those colors would look. Like would it be too colorful and busy and would it match the rest of the house.

I’m sure we could’ve just placed it on hold to see what we decided on and then made a decision later. But~ that’s not what we did and maybe we should’ve. Lesson learned.

Since we’re learning as we go, there are a lot of things we would’ve done differently. But we move on and still like how this rough draft has turned out.

It’s not 100% completed yet and we will share more of the finished build in an upcoming blog and video.

Building unique old beadboard cabinet doors for our cottage kitchen island became a test of our creativity and just figuring things out.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own~ while working full time jobs! Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead. Read more about us here.

You can also watch a video about this here.